


First Day

by isawrightless



Series: Heaven Tonight [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU - Comicverse, Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-21
Updated: 2012-04-21
Packaged: 2017-11-04 01:06:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/387960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isawrightless/pseuds/isawrightless
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tim likes the way it sounds. He likes the way everything sounds right now. It is a bit scary, happiness, and he understands why so many people find it difficult to hold on to it. Delicate emotion that should always be approached carefully. Still it is hard to explain when he can only feel. Heavy heart that it is not so heavy anymore. Shaky hands that come from excitement instead of fear. He smiles and smiles and smiles. Dad. He is a dad and Kon is a dad and they are parents. They beat death and they beat universes and they are here today because they are here. It is simple like that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Day

“This is your home, Sarah.” Tim says as he enters the apartment. Kon follows right behind him with a huge grin on his face and a few bags on his hands. It is a nice apartment. Nothing extravagant. It is cozy and warm and right now it is filled with presents. Kon sets the bags on the chair as Tim walks across the living room with all the care in the world. He holds Sarah exactly like he’s been taught and he cannot grasp how beautiful she is. A little fact that should not come as surprise considering how gorgeous Elizabeth -Sarah’s mother-actually is. Still she is the most amazing thing he’s ever seen. A tiny human with nothing but a pure heart and a fresh start. She is free of all the nightmares and burdens life has thrown at him. Tim sits on the couch, takes a look around him; a moses basket on the table, more presents scattered on the floor next to the TV Stand, ‘Welcome Home’ ribbons decorating some of the furniture. He smiles and imagines the scene - Dick coming in with, well, everybody to prepare all of this. Kon moves slowly, finds a place next to Tim and sighs, says something like ‘wow’ to which Tim nods.

“Okay, don’t get alarmed, but we have a baby.” Kon says.

“I know.” Tim replies and tries his best not to startle Sarah.

“Dude, we’re growing up.”

“I hope so,” Tim smiles, “for her sake.”

“This is really unbelievable.”

“You think so?”

“You don’t? I mean it’s not bad unbelievable, it’s good. Good unbelievable, but still,” Kon explains, “Tim, we have a baby.”

Tim finds it difficult to hold back a small laugh. “Here,” he says as he carefully passes Sarah to the anxious man. “maybe now it’ll feel more believable.”

And so it does. Excruciatingly so. Everything is real, and Sarah moves her chubby arms, her eyes are closed and maybe she is dreaming and Kon wonders what kind of dreams babies have and then he realizes how much he loves her. Love that happens all at once and then gradually spreads through his system. The need to protect, to give Sarah the things he never had. He thinks ahead, pictures the future. He wants to teach her so many things! And he wants to take her flying and tell her that no stars in the sky can disrupt her beauty. He wants to stay up all night playing video games with her. He wants to teach her about music, get her to like Nirvana or Alice in Chains and tell her that it is okay if she still prefers Enya or Depeche Mode. He wants to wait at the Principal’s office because she punched a kid in the face for some reason and he wants to scold her about it, tell her that violence does not get people anywhere, and when Tim looks away he wants to give her a thumbs up because it was a nice punch. He wants and he knows he can because he’s her father.

They both stand up and walk over to where the moses basket is. “Isn’t there a special way to put her in here?”

Tim nods and flattens the blanket inside the basket and flips a corner for the baby’s head, “You gotta lay her down with the back of her head centered on the flipped corner.” Tim observes as Kon does so. Sarah is out like nobody’s business, although she does let out a sound when Tim pulls one corner of the blanket over her.

“Shouldn’t we do this only when she’s crying?” Kon questions and focuses on remembering the things he read on baby books with Elizabeth when they were at the hospital.

“No,” Tim shakes his head and flips the bottom edge of the blanket up towards the top of Sarah’s head. He pulls this part straight up, making the fold near Sarah’s tiny feet. “it’s good to do it like this, too. It keeps her calm and still.” He explains as he brings the remaining corner across Sarah’s chest, towards the opposite side. The result is a baby wrapped in a soft blanket and the new parents looking down at her with goofy expressions.

The moment changes when someone knocks on the door. Tim does not bother to ask who is it; he simply heads to the door, opens it with a small smile on his face and is greeted in return with a bigger one coming from his older brother. Richard Grayson. He stands there at the doorway, smiling from ear to ear, looking completely normal in his jeans and shirt. But Tim knows about the scars underneath, the new ones, and instead of wondering if he will regret quitting the whole hero thing, he keeps thinking about the scars on Dick’s body and the circles under his eyes and the smile on his face. He did not get any sleep, Tim is sure of that, and yet here he is.

“So where’s my niece?” Dick asks

Tim gestures to the spot where Kon is standing and Dick starts moving, greeting Kon with a whispered ‘hey’ and a nod on the way. He takes care not to stumble on some of the presents and not to break anything. His gift is somewhere in there, probably under the teddy bears. He does not remember where exactly he put it. The memories from the afternoon revolve around the jokes Wally made about him being or not being old enough to be an uncle. And his cheeks will hurt later, but as he looks down at the basket and sees Sarah, he forgets all about it.

“Hello, baby girl,” he leans closer, “hello. I’m your uncle Dick. Yes, I am. You have a lot of aunts and uncles, but I’m the coolest,” And Sarah scrunches up the dot that is her nose, makes a face in her sleep, “some of them have very awesome powers like your dad over here,” Dick points his thumb in Kon’s direction,” and some of them are total freaks like your dad over there,” Tim rolls his eyes at the playful provocation and glances at Kon who is clearly amused, “but I’m an acrobat. You see, I can walk on my hands and balance myself on an extremely thin line, and I can do a lot of other stuff that you’ll learn when you’re older.”

“That’s quite an introduction.” Kon says.

“First impressions are important.” Dick replies with a chuckle.

“She’s not even a week old and you want to put her on the trapeze?” Tim asks while picking up a few ribbons from the floor.

“Excuse me,” Dick holds up his hand in a stop sign, “this is between my niece and I,” he says as he illustrates his sentence by pointing to Sarah and then to himself.

Kon furrows his eyebrows and sniffs. “I don’t think she’s thrilled with the idea.” An expression of disgust to explain the situation.

“The changing table is over here,” Tim says as he grabs the bag full of diapers, lotion, and baby wipes, “give her to me.”

As soon as she is out of her comfy basket she becomes aware of things, aware that she is dirty and she does not like being dirty, so she expresses herself with a high-pitched cry. Dick watches as Kon makes his way to Tim, watches as they work like a team -years of training and fighting always come in handy for mundane activities, after all- and it is much too amusing. Tim treats the situation the same way he treats a puzzle. Kon suffers with his heightened senses but puts on a fight and helps. Well, tries to. Tim is Tim and he needs to get it right on his own. He does it perfectly, and once Sarah realizes she is clean and on Tim’s lap again she ceases her crying completely. Dick sees the small smile on Kon’s face turn down as Tim passes him the dirty diaper. He tries not to laugh when Kon practically super speeds his way out of the apartment.

“Kon! We have a diaper pail!” Tim calls after him.

“Not waiting until we find it!” Kon yells back.

And then there is this moment. This delicate moment when Tim looks down at Sarah and she’s cozy in his hold and he’s at peace. Dick thinks about the cliche -the whole world stopping thing- and he realizes that it may as well be true. So he stares at Tim because that is his little brother all grown up, smiling so wide and being so content and the world should stop just for Tim and Kon and Sarah. It should stop for them.

Tim kisses the top of her head and lays her gently inside the moses basket again, swaddles her one more time, and Dick sits on the couch.

“Wow.”

“What?” Tim starts to put Sarah’s things back inside the bag. He leaves it on top of the changing table and once again directs his attention to the presents that still remain on the hardwood floor.

“You’re a dad.”

“So I am.”

“According to Wally I’m too young to be an uncle. Or too old. I don’t know, his jokes are horrible.”

“Bart got us to hear his horrible jokes, too. Maybe it’s a speedster thing.”

Dick laughs and shakes his head. “She looks like a pear.”

Tim stops and stares. “My daughter looks like a pear?”

“She’s tiny.”

“Babies are funny like that.”

Dick snorts. “Alfred can’t wait to see her.”

“Why didn’t he come with you?”

“Said he’d bake something for you guys first. He’ll be here in a while with Damian. Bruce will come later.”

“After everybody else left.”

“That’s being social for him. Who else is coming?”

“Cassie, Bart, and Steph. Oh, and Clark.”

“Sounds fair. Dad.”

Tim likes the way it sounds. He likes the way everything sounds right now. It is a bit scary, happiness, and he understands why so many people find it difficult to hold on to it. Delicate emotion that should always be approached carefully. Still it is hard to explain when he can only feel. Heavy heart that it is not so heavy anymore. Shaky hands that come from excitement instead of fear. He smiles and smiles and smiles. Dad. He is a dad and Kon is a dad and they are parents. They beat death and they beat universes and they are here today because they are here. It is simple like that.

The door opens and Kon comes in, steps on something soft and looks down to see a teddy bear being smashed under his foot. He grabs the fluffy object and readjusts it. “Sorry, Mr. Teddy.” And Mr. Teddy goes flying across the room, all glorious in his synthetic fibers and bow tie. When he lands on the changing table just as planned Kon offers a cocky grin to the audience.

“Dare you to hit-“

“Nobody’s daring anybody, Dick.” Tim throws a red paper ball made of gift wrappers at him. “Get up and help me. And you,” he turns to face Kon, “what took you so long?”

“Oh, I ran into the Altmans. Apparently they’re really happy for us.” Kon approaches Tim and stretches his hand out, grabs Tim’s small wrists and drags him into a hug.

“That’s good.” Tim says and his voice is a little muffled from burying his head into Kon’s chest.

“You don’t know who they are, do you?”

Tim throws his head back to stare up at Kon. “Yes, I do. I just never spoke to them. But I know who they are. I also know that Mr. Altman served in the military, and Mrs. Altman does her grocery shopping on Fridays.”

“Dude, that’s creepy.” Kon says and Dick’s laughter echoes in the background because there is no way Tim would move to an apartment without knowing if it was safe to trust the people living there.

“Shut up.” Tim pouts but gets a kiss anyway.

The rest of the evening passes slowly; the guests arrive and Alfred’s chocolate cake almost steals the spot light from Sarah, but Cassie and Steph cannot stop staring at her and they proclaim themselves godmothers and Damian hands his gift to Tim - a set of pink colored baby footies. Dick and Alfred exchange approving glances while Damian turns his head, “It’s for the kid,” he says when Tim thanks him and he feels a little stupid afterwards because who else is going to wear those footies besides the baby? But it is okay and Bart is quick enough to catch the tiny smile on the teen’s face before he drops it. Clark hugs Kon and tells him that the whole family is happy, tells him that Ma wants to meet Sarah, and Kon hides the surprise from his face quite well for it has been so long since he and Clark hugged like this, like father and son, and the moment makes up for a warm memory.

And sure enough, after most of the party is gone, Bruce makes his appearance. He scans the place, blank expression, settles his eyes on Tim. In his overcoat of heavy fabric, his dress shoes, his intimidating posture. This is not Bruce Wayne, he did not come wearing his mask. The man who stares at Tim is the man who took him in as a son, who taught him more than he thought he could learn.

“I apologize for being late, the-“

“It’s okay,” truth be told Tim did not believe he would show up at all, “I’m glad you’re here.”

Silence for a few seconds. Locked eyes and Bruce is proud, it shows, the lines on his face and the cold eyes, Tim knows how to read him pretty well. “Sarah’s in the bedroom with Kon and Dick. You should go see her.” Tim lets out a short laugh filled with contentment and wonder, “she’s pretty amazing.”

“I’m sure she is.” Bruce’s tone is strong, full of conviction. He means it, he really does. But before he has the chance to say anything else his attention is directed to the figure that comes out of one of the rooms. The bedroom, Bruce guesses.

“Finally!” Dick exclaims.

“Hello, Dick.”

“Yeah, c’mon, you wasted enough time already. Come meet your granddaughter.” Dick says with enthusiasm that makes Tim show his teeth and looks at Bruce to see if he is smiling, too. Long shot. But they follow Dick to the bedroom and anticipation to see Bruce’s reaction keeps building in Tim’s chest.

Bruce remains calm and collected like he always is. “Kon-El.” He says when he sees the man. Kon greets him back with a nod and steps to the side. Sarah can be found in a bassinet next to Tim and Kon’s bed. She is wide awake and when Bruce’s face comes into picture, her eyes widen in amazement at the new person. She gurgles and waves her arms, tries to communicate and Bruce finally smiles as he reaches inside to touch her face with his thumb which still seems bigger than her entire face.

Words are not his thing. He cannot express himself through them. Today, however, they are easy to utter.

“Welcome to the family.”

-

Kon’s hair is still wet from the shower as he climbs into bed and sits with his legs crossed on the mattress. He’s wearing only a pair of sweat pants to sleep, different from Tim who likes to add an old T-shirt to his wardrobe.

“How’s our girl?” Kon asks.

Tim puts down the book he’s reading and takes a quick glance at Sarah who is fast asleep in the bassinet. “Well, she’s been changed, fed and she’s burped, and now she’s decided to sleep again because being a baby is very tiresome.”

Kon chuckles. “She’s pretty quiet.”

Tim stretches his arms above his head and yawns.”That’s wishful thinking. We’re not gonna get any sleep tonight and you know it.”

“Since when do we get any sleep?”

“Got a point there.” Tim sets the book on the nightstand. “Dick said she looks like a pear. I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe he’s right.” He looks at Kon, notices puffy eyes and a tiny smile, and frowns. “You okay?”

Kon rubs his eyes, tries to hold back the tears. “I’m fine, it’s…I’ve been trying not to cry since we came back from the hospital. You know, it feels…” He makes a gesture with his hand, but it is not quite enough for Tim.

“What?”

“I thought I’d never have this,” Kon sighs, “Clark said those things to me today, but I always felt like I was borrowing his relatives, his family. I know it’s not true, but it’s what it looked like. Except now I have you and Sarah and it feels mine.” He smiles the brightest smile Tim has ever seen. “My family, you know? And it’s all because of you.”

Tim grins like a little boy. “Because of me?”

And Kon laughs and cups Tim’s face and kisses his lips. “Yes, because of you, dumbass.” he slides his hands down Tim’s arms until he finds hands to knot his fingers through. “You kissed me. I remember I wanted to kiss you more than anything, but I was too chicken shit to do something about it. I was afraid of messing up and losing you forever. It was up to you to make the first move,” Kon watches as Tim smiles and drops his head only to look up at him again, “and you kissed me. What if you hadn’t? I would’ve realized that I couldn’t live without you sooner or later, but maybe it would’ve been too late. So thank you,” he squeezes Tim’s hands, “for kissing me. And for giving me a family.”

Tim falls forward into an embrace. “I’d do it all over again. Always.”

“I know,” Kon rests his chin on the top of Tim’s head, “thank you.”


End file.
